We’re excited to showcase our collaboration with award-winning designer Nick Ervinck to produce five pioneering artworks for “The Sixth Element” collection. These pieces will be unveiled alongside two other high-profile artist collaborations at Stratasys’ first ever art gallery at EuroMold, Nov. 25 – 28, in Frankfurt, Germany. Stay tuned as we unveil the rest of the collaborations for the series over the next week.

GNILICER: Designed by Nick Ervinck and produced on the Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D PrinterBRETOMER: Designed by Nick Ervinck and produced on the Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer

The “Sixth Element” series includes 3D printed art inspired by the classical five elements of nature – Earth, Water, Air, Fire and Life – with the sixth element, the natural beauty of 3D Printing. Forming the first part of Stratasys’ collection, Ervinck’s sculptures capture the motions of nature’s elements in intricate and transparent ways, made possible with Stratasys’ unique Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer. The sculptures, named GNILICER (LIGHT), BRETOMER (WIND), MYRSTAW (WATER), NOITENA and NOITULS (MOVEMENT), explore the boundaries of the natural and virtual worlds, capturing nature and making it tangible via a stationary, digitally-made object.

Beyond Physical Bounds

Ervinck’s inspiration comes from light, wind and water, and how reflection, color and movement could produce artworks that suggest the escape of physical boundaries. According to Ervinck, bringing these concepts to life is something that could only be realized using the triple jetting technology of an Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer by Stratasys.

MYRSTAW: Designed by Nick Ervinck and produced on the Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer

“There is currently no other technology in the world capable of achieving the unique, transparent 3D printed art pieces I’ve created with Stratasys. My work has always been a hybrid between the virtual and physical world and a 3D printer is one of the few tools, if not the only one, that can efficiently mediate between the two,” Ervinck said. “With the level of accuracy achievable with this technology, it is now possible to compose complex structures and designs that were unthinkable before in contemporary sculpture, pushing the limits of what is realistic to create.”

Light and Wind

GNILICER features colored lines that resemble light cycles in the classic science fiction movie “TRON” while BRETOMER encapsulates the art form of smoke or wind held captive and moving within. With both pieces, Ervinck explores the destruction, perception and definition of mass by questioning spatial positioning and oscillating between the static and the unknown. This was made possible by replacing the hard materials associated with traditional sculpting with a combination of rigid opaque and translucent color digital materials 3D printed on Stratasys’ unique triple jetting technology.

Water and Movement

NOITENA: Designed by Nick Ervinck and produced on the Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer

MYRSTAW simulates splashing water, representing an encounter between nature and technology by making a natural occurrence tangible with a digital creation. This explores the limits of possibility for artists and revitalizes traditional sculpture with 3D printing.

Completing the collection are the stunning artworks, NOITENA and NOITULS, which capture motion in a tactile medium. Inspired by mysterious movements and optical illusions, these sculptures can be read in multiple ways and angles, escaping a defined space. Requiring the highest level of intricacy and detail, these complex pieces cannot be sculpted by hand. Utilizing the power of Stratasys’ triple-jetting technology, Ervinck is able to combine digital materials that include transparent (VeroClear), and opaque (VeroCyan and VeroMagenta), making it possible to 3D print the different materials required, multifaceted shapes and opacities in a single 3D print job.

NOITULS: Designed by Nick Ervinck and produced on the Objet500 Connex3 Color Multi-material 3D Printer

“The level of realism achievable using the Objet500 Connex3 is unsurpassed, as it is the only 3D Production System that enables me to combine colors, transparency and multiple materials at the same time to create organic, geometrical, fluid and large scale sculptures,” Ervinck said. “I now see 3D printing as a tool to use in creating my work just as a painter considers his brush a tool; it is that integrated into my design process.”

“When we approached Nick, one of the tougher challenges we had for him was to embody the motion blur language of his Lightbox series into a 3D form. This adventure led us all to the birth of MYRSTAW, NOITULS and NOITENA, which perfectly encapsulate Nick’s artistic style. We can perhaps read in them a balancing dialogue between sci-fi and the imminent organic language of animal bone structure – something that we are very proud to bring to life using 3D printing.”